SAO SI
by Quantum Tesseract
Summary: Of all the worlds to be inserted in, it had to be this one? Still, I'm not complaining- at least I know the series. Criticism, even flames, is appreciated.


Disclaimer: Sword Art Online is owned by A-1 Pictures, Reki Kawahara, and Aniplex USA. I own nothing. Please support the official release.

Warning:excessive internal monologue. He's easily bored.

* * *

As I sit up, I rub the sleep out of my eyes. In front of me is a login screen, with my name for the username and a filled in password. Despite there being no one around, the password was still protected by asterisks. Where am I, and what the heck am I doing here?

Is it a dream? Am I amnesiac? Was I kidnapped? Have I been in a coma? Well, I can probably rule out the third one, unless I have some kind of really weird kidnapper. Come to think of it, I can probably rule out the first one as well. I mean, I'm thinking lucidly, so I'm not asleep.

That leaves… honestly the two most disturbing options. My life is mine- I don't want to give any of it up. How much time have I lost? I could ask someone, but there isn't anyone really here… duh, I can just look at myself and see how old I am. Now, do I look older… "Where the hell did my body go? And how the hell am I thinking?

Ordinarily I'd be more cautious about clicking the big blue button, but I'm not exactly swimming in options here. With any luck, it'll spark some reaction. Now, how do I click it without any hands… there we go. Now I can- select my avatar, 's really strange. Uh… I mostly liked how I looked, so I at least have some idea, but maybe darker hair? My current brown is a bit sad. And how the heck am I going to find the right skin tone? And why are these controls in Chinese? Nevermind, it's Japanese, those aren't all kanji. How do I set it to English? A little help here?

This makes me wish I'd played a few more RPG's- then I would know what I want an avatar to look like. Still, that's a stupid reason to waste my time. Besides, I wouldn't really want the same thing in a game that I'd want in real life.

On the plus side, this probably means that technology advanced a lot! I wonder what it's like? Are there quantum computers? FAI ? Teleportation? Wait, why speculate when I can check? I just have to finish the avatar… nevermind. That's the delete key. This could take a while.

* * *

Gah! Why is there a button to color everything blue?

* * *

Where did my work go? ... That's a huge zoom function. Now, how do I change it back?

* * *

That looks really bad bad. Restart.

* * *

Why are the color options so terrible? Couldn't they have just used CMYK or RBY?

* * *

Why the hell did I have to make it look like me? I could have chosen the first avatar I didn't hate the look of, but nooo, I have to make it like me. Besides, it still looks a bit odd. I never really see myself, so it's partly understandable, but the avatar just seems… off. Stills, there is no way I'm spending any longer here. Time to hit the complete button.

Options. Why is options after character creation? English, yes. Why would they make you operate a designer in another language? ...Dumb question. They probably had a button to change that- it was just in Japanese. It probably didn't even register as a problem to the designer.

Still, at least the design is cool. Whoever funded this didn't skimp on a design team. Anyway, here goes nothing. Maybe I'll finally be able to talk to someone instead of dying of boredom. Link, Start!

* * *

I stand up, disoriented by the rushing colors. That's certainly a n impressive bootup sequence. Did they have to make it so dizzying? Surely faceplanting was unnecessary. There are people all around me, but I don't remember seeing them as I fell over. There's nothing for it, then. I'll have to ask someone.

Ah, that person, looks like he knows what he's doing. Not that it really matters, though- they probably all know what this place is.

"Hello, may I ask where we are?"

He stops and looks at me assessingly before replying in accented English.

"American? That's a rarity. Well, this is the Town of Beginnings, on the first floor of Aincrad."

He hesitates, and then continues.

"The town gate is that way, while shops are scattered throughout. You can't miss them."

He runs off, leaving me standing there confused. Is he in that big a hurry? Also, how is scattered throughout good directions?

Then, the more important part of what he said hits me. I'm not on an American server, which means that whoever put me here either didn't know me or didn't care. That implies that I'm probably not supposed to be here. That's… not good. This isn't me being reintroduced to society after a coma, this is a screwup or harmful action. I have to find someone with authority. The only question is, can they be trusted?

I think I'll have to wait a bit. If it is just a mistake, then I probably won't be hurt by staying, but if it is…. there probably isn't anything to worry about, but my life has far too little excitement. I have a chance to do something real- i'm not about to give that up. First, however, I have to figure out how this works.

The city is set up strangely, but I guess they can do whatever they want in virtual reality. There's no reason it has too look like the real world, after all. Alongside the road, I can see a few people navigating some kind of menu. Is it some kind of special feature? They don't seem to be working together. Just before I could muster up the courage to ask, however, I see someone else swipe down with their fingers and open it. I hesitantly imitate them, and to my surprise it comes up. An inventory, huh? With statistics, health points, and level listed? Is this a video game, or do people just live like this? This is going to take a lot of getting used too…

* * *

The next few hours were much less interesting than the previous ones. I spent most of the time walking through the city. NPC's, it appears, are everywhere, while players are mostly hanging out near the gates. I looked outside, but there didn't seem to be anything interesting. The more I travel, however, the stranger this place seems. Almost no one seems to know where they are going, and many seem to be staring in amazement. It makes… almost absolutely no sense.

Just as I'm thinking this, however, I am surrounded in light. Immediately, I find myself in the central plaza I had seen earlier. It's not just me, however- there are many others who were also teleported. I breathe a sigh of relief, however, red hexagons spread across the sky. Where have I seen this before? The strange sense of Deja Vu that has been bothering me throughout the day fills me up, and I try to remember just what would evoke such a reaction from me.

Then the sky begins to bleed, and all I can think is "oh, cra…"


End file.
